Just want to vent a bit and see what others think about the situation.

Up to know my work has been holding their own. We seem to make our budget every month and some how we survive.

Our contract is up on Wednesday night and we are so far off in negotiations I think its game over already.

The company proposal is as follows:

***Technicians to pick up 25% of medical benifits. Current cost is $1077 a month. Up till now we pay nothing for our medical. The company wont budge on this and with this proposal we would have to take on $63 a week for medical coverage

***they want a 3 year deal down from 5 at the start of negotiations. Pay as follows:
year 1 - 5% reduction
year 2 - 0%
year 3 - 2% increase
year 4 - 3% increase (off the table now)
year 5 - 4% increase (off the table now)

current top techs make just over 60k a year and rely on heavy OT to make a decent income.

*** suspend all 401k match benifits

*** start stagered work week with 4 x 10hr days and shift weeks to work guys on tues-saturday schedule. Saturday hours to be straight time from current ot rates.

*** they also want the right to declare an "economic buisness crisis" or something along those lines and cut work weeks to 32 hrs from 40.

-------------------

Now for my thoughts...

I am in no way a righ dude. I make a decent living for A LOT of hard work. The union has been in negotiations for 2 weeks now and all the company has budged on is removing the last 2 years from the deal (which were the ony 2 years we would have gotten a raise!!)

I realize in this day and age paying zero for medical is pretty good. I would not be opposed to picking up part of it but 25% seems rediculious! I know many others who only pay less. Current non-union members pay about $25-$30 every pay period every other week. Union employees get paid weekly they propose a 25% ($63) per week hike for us... which in the future will only go up making it worse.

Now to cut my OT out and drop my hours to 32. I did the math and with the current offer I will loose about $28k a year in benifits and pay....

would you even consider such a lousy offer? I could care less about a strike I will be looking for a new job very soon. I hate to say it cause I love my work but I dont think anyone can afford this offer.

Anyone need a HIGHLY experienced, senior diesel engine/power generation technician? Will work for decent benefits and COMPETITIVE pay....


Sorry just had to vent a bit

what do you pay for medical benifits?

 

I pay more for benefits then that and I'm a single guy without a wife and kids like you.

 

man I feel for you bro... That is just plain crazy for medical benifits. Maybe I am just use to not paying for my benifits. What do you do for a living?

Without figuring in the OT problem they are proposing a $8500/per year pay cut for me. I can not afford that. Ican not afford to be on strike or a lockout wither but we really dont have much choice.

There are a lot of other thingshere that have been going on for the past 2 years I havent brought up. I could write a book on it all. Long story short they also now have trained us to open and close our own workorders. And I mean literally we get the job email to us from our new central operation center (who are nothing but some girls answering the phones giving me all the wrong info)

I am expected tonot only go out and t/shoot and fix the job, but now I order my own parts, enter my labor into the jobs, credit my returns and cores, work up a job and figure out the bill, close the workorder and then file all the 4 billion items onto the network from my laptop from the road.

Ispend more time now on my computer than I do working. Its a sad thing I used to be a mechanic and now I am incharge of who gets charged tax and how much the bill is. If make a mistake I get my *** ripped the next morning.

They do not need office personell and have cut back on that. Now they want to cut my pay for doing more work than I ever did.

I want to be a team player but with the work load and responsibility I have been given I deserve a raise. I didnt even touch onthe work I generate...

It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I think we will be out of work by next week. The company apparently will not let us work without a contract and we are all willing to do so.

 

Honestly, I think that's the case. They're paying 75% of your benefits...that's actually really really not bad.

As for what I do, https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=650672

*edit*
I lied, I don't pay more then you. I used to, but we recently switched providers and lowered our costs. It does cost me about ~$180 a month though.

 

180 while expensive is still less than the proposed $269 a month from our company. They are asking me to take a $1.50an hour pay cut and then pick up $1.69 an hour in medical. Thats over a $3 an hour cut. That alone is over a 13% pay cut and I have not figured in the 10k to 20k in lost OT and 401 k benifit cuts...

And I am being generouse here. In reality if they stager the shift I could loose ALL of my OT and drop $30k a year plus the wages...


ManIhope they come back down to earth soon or we will all looking for new jobs.

there will be over 200 technicians out of work by next week. The company sent out a memo yesterday that stated if a contract is not approved and there is a strike... that it will be buisness as usual till Monday the 8th. At that time ALL non essentia, non barganing personell are on mandatory furlough untill further notice.

Sounds to me like they are ready to shut the buisness down.

Its a shame since many of our departments are still making money (I would say 60% company wide). There are just a few that are on their butts. I think they need to lay off but they refuse.

 

Rick pays $42.71 week for both of at PSEG (IBEW union). I don't think $63 is bad for family either.

HOWEVER, every other part of the deal sounds crappy. Rick said to check out the website at PSEG. He doesn't know what's open but it's worth a look. He started there a few years ago as a fleet mechanic in Edison and is now a tower man working on the high tension lines (Nationaly Geographic did a story on his team - America's Toughest Fixes). He LOVES his job and is paid well.

 

most of the guys agree that if the medical was the only issue we would be able to work out a deal... but pile on the rest and its a vote of NO.

We vote Wednesday night I think...

Whats your definition of paid well thought... a top rate tech at my shop makes under $30/hr... I'm not even top rate yet (another long story) I don't think that is overpaid by any standard. Listen I am living in a decent house and a nice neighborhood. I make enough to pay the mgt, and put food on the table but I am far from rolling in money ya know?? Techs atmy shop make anywhere from $40k to $100k /yr depending on the OT and skill level. Wehave a ton of underclass techs. My branch is fortunate tohave 5 senior guys including myself out of 10. Most others have 2 tops and some have none.

We are IUOE and I know many guys who make in excess of $40/hr but pay for the benifits...

We have always just accepted the lower pay because we dont pay the extras like medical. Now they want to share the cost and cut pay even more, while my work load and responsibility has gone up. Labor rates are out the roof. They charge $144/hr for each guy. We make under $30/hr of that. Lower class guys are in the $21-$24/hr range yet still get billed at $144 an hr..

Jax, I will check it out. I always said I should have been an electrician. I am very well rounded in the electrical field. I know more about that, than I do about engines. I'm a controls/switchgear specialsts IMO. I just never got an electrical license.

 

I am not sure what they make starting out. He's not really an electrician though - they replace and repair the high tension lines on the towers. I did check it out earlier and there are 2 openings for towermen/women (I guess they have to be politically correct).

What pumps up Rick's salary is a $75 per day "remote report" pay that is tax free. His regular schedule is Monday through Thursday and then there is often overtime offered... we just bought a 2000 36' Southwind motorhome with 2 slides - thanks to his overtime pay.
http://s145.photobucket.com/albums/r...182/Southwind/

 

Please adopt me. I will even do laundry lol.

 

THE DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDROULS!!!!!

They just laid off 80 of the 220 mechanics the day before the contract vote. They informed all of them that as of Monday next week that they are all out of work... Really a dirty thing to do. The guys they are letting go are all the guys they have hired in the past 2-3 years. We have been screaming for almost a year to stop hiring because they are taking on too many and not they messed up 80 peoples lives because of their greed!


Its almost certain we will be on strike now. I put my resume together last night and I have to make some adjustment tomorrow. If the strike last for more than 2 week I am out. If the contract passes like it is then I am out.

They preach family life but stick it to the famlies in the end... Corporate greed at its finest

 

DOOOOOD! Now is the perfect time to move here! You know you wana. Less traffic, CHEAPER living, 15-20 min from the track, NO emissions!!!!! The list goes on man.

 

Here is the worst part, I think they hired all these people for the sole purpose of a layoff just before the contract. Trying a scare tactic to get people to vote for a pay cut. Better to be working for less than not working at all right? Thats how evil these people are. They wrecked 80 families on purpose just to make a buck and try to get people to vote for an insane paycut...


BTW, did I mention that the budget reports came out yesterday for last month? We had a record breaking month and smasshed all profit records since forever. It was the single highest gross proffit in the history of the company... our budget was $1.14 million for 20 billing days and we did $1.3 million in billed labor... and now I am rewarded with a proposed $25,000 pay cut.

Anyone know the phone number for ABC, CBS and NBC news? Tomorrow night at the vote it's going to be ugly...

 

I may be in the unemployment line with you. Looks like I may be good til the end of the year. After that ????? Worse case will be that I will be doing a lot of racing next season. I will have the race car, trailer, truck, and time. I just have to get a car seat and helmet for my dog.

 

my problem is that I am almost screwed either way. If it passes tonight I am working but at a job I no longer want or can afford. I will be forced to go search for work else where (I am not looking forward to that). If it doesn't pass I am out of work all together and I can not collect unemployment while on strike.

If we strike we do have some chance of changing the companies view of us. We are no longer just wrench. We are the blood, sweat and tears of the company and without us they will go under. They are just like the rest of big buisness they think anyone can do the job if you stick a shop manual in their hands. We just have to hope they realize its not so and work out a FAIR deal before the ship sinks... and it will sink. I say 4 weeks and they file bankrupt.

I've got 10 years of Cat service and experience under my belt. You can't just take a dude off the street and pay him less and get the same results. I generate my anunal pay, in new work every month... and deliver it with no problems. Same goes for most of the work force. There is room to trim some fat of course.

 

I really hope everything works out for you Brian. Your a stand up guy. So im sure you will be just fine nomatter the outcome. Hang in there bud!